Razor stropper



Feb. 2 1926. 1,571,523

H. IPSEN RAZOR STROPPER Filed Sept. 8, 1920 [NI/E TOR A TTORNEY-Patented Feb. 2, 1926.

2U NLTIEEID HENRIKYIPSEN,"OF BROOKLYN,"NEWTYORK,TASSIGI\TORTO MAURICE L.BRANDT, OF

"NEVVYORK, N. Y.

irApplicationi filedseptember 8, 1920. Seria1=1\To.'-408,848.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that? 1, Hanan: I1SEN,1EL citizen of the United States, anda-resident of the borough of Brooklyn, county of-Kings, city and Stateof New'York, have invented a certain new and useful Razor Stropper, ofwhich thefollowingis aispecification.

My invent? on; relates to razor-stroppers of the swing strap variety,-in which a razor-or razor blade issnspended in (the bight of a strop andthe opposite sides of the-blade: are alternately presented tothe surfaceof the strop as the latteris-moved inopposite directions relatively tothe blade,- andat the same time the blade is moved transverselyrelatively to the strop whereby the proper stropping and settingmoveme'ntsof: the blade relatively to thestrop are attained.

In the prior devices-of this character, the movement ofthe bladetransversely 1 of the strop has-been accomplished by means of a screwwhich is rotatedby pulling first on one end'of the StI'OPwZLDCl then onthe other, the screw being located in the *bight ot. the

' strop and being rotated by the engagement of the strapsin thesamermanner thata pulley is rotated by a belt-.

The object of the present invention isto provide a devicein which arazor blade or the like edged tool may-he so positioned, arranged andmanipulated that when each side of the blade is presentedlto the 'stropthere will be relative movement between the'b-lade and the strop in-which the blade will be caused to travel in the-direction, transverseto the longitudinal axis, ofthe strop while the strop is heingmoved inthe directionot' its longitudinal axis, and wherein the blade will becaused; to partake of rapidnnovements transversely of the stropiwhereloyit, the blade, will be drawn latterly across the path of movement of thestrop a plurality of times during each "full movement of the strop.

A further object is to provide simple,

cheap and .etiicient meanswhereby'opposite sides of the blades will bepresented to the strop as the vdirection of movement of the same ischanged, and whereby danger of cutting or otherwise marring of therstrop is avoided. These and further objects will more fully appear inthe following specification and accompanying drawings consideredtogether or separately. 2

I have illustrated one embodiment of :my inventlonin theaccomp-anflngdrawings,in which like p arts 1l1: all. of the several figu-res 1 aredesignated by corresponding characters a of reterence,fillddll'VVlll'Qll taken ona line-just inside of the righthand sidemember 1: of Fig; l,and

:Fig. 6 is aidiagrannnatic View showing'the path of movement ofthe-blade in relation of the strop.

In carrying out my invention I provide a frame comprisingside members 1,1, preferably of key-hole shape as shown. The members are securedtogether in spavced-relatio-n by means ot a cap piece. 2 having a loop 3througlrwhichis passeda strap 3 whereby the framemaybe'secured toastationary ob,- ject, such as a hook, as is common.-

Extending longitudinally o-f-the frame and in proximity to the capu2llSzEL stay 4: which is preferably rivetedorotherwise secured to theside members and-eXtending-between. them, and rot at-aloly-mounted.onthe stay 1 is roller *5. 1The' -sideJnemhers.are held :in'spacedir'elation by other-stay members 6, 7,8,9, and 11 as shown.

A strop 12 having a handle 13w=at--each extremity it placed 1 within theframe between-the roller 5 and the cap piecei 2, there being a bight inthe strop Within which the roller 5 rests to *beengaged. by the .stropwhich will act as a beltto rotate the roller inopposite direction as oneendior the other of the :strop is withdrawn from the roller.

1 Loosely carried on the stay rod 6 isa sleeve 1 1 towhich issecuredablade holder comprising a pair of: leaves 15 between which arazor bladeis adapted to besecure'd in any desirechmanner, and: with theedge *of the blade: projecting beyond the leaves in the direction awayfrom the stay rod 6. I

i Rig-idly secured to the sleeve 14 is a-tinger '16 which projects? fromthe sleeve in the direction opposite the leaves 15. ZIhe free we camgroove 18 in the cylindrical surface of the roller 5.

Loosely mounted on the stay rod 4 is a frame comprising a pair ofoppositely disposed discs 19, 19, one at each end of the roller. Thediscs are connected by a bar 20 which is positioned between the rollerand the stay 6. The bar is provided with a longi tudinal slot 21 throughwhich the finger 16 projects.

Rigidly secured to each disc 19 is a spring member 22. Each springmember comprises two legs which are crossed and engage opposite sides ofthe stay rod 6, whereby the bar 20 is normally positioned between therods 4 and 6 with the finger l6 and the blade holder in the centralposition as shown in full lines in Fig; 2.

The strop, as shown in Fig. 2, is guided by the stays 7 and 9 on oneside and by the stays 8 and 10 upon the opposite side of the frame. Thestays 7 and 8 are so positioned relatively to the blade holder that whenthe latter is oscillated to engage the blade with the strop that portionof the strop in engagement with the blade will be backed up bya stay andthere will be no danger of the strop being kinked,-crimped or cut by thepressure of the blade, and rounding of the edge of the blade will beavoided.

The operation is as follows:

A razor blade is inserted in the blade holder from one end thereof withthe edge of the blade projecting from the holder, and with the latter inthe central position as shown in Fig. 2, the side members 1, 1 being cutaway as shown to permit of the insertion and removal of the blade,andalso to permit of endwise movement of holder.

The loop of the strop 3 is placed over a hook or other stationaryobject, and the handles 13 are grasped one in each hand to bring theaxis of the roller 4 in approximately the vertical position. The stropis now drawn back and forth over the roller whereby the latter isrotated first in one direction and then in the other as the right orleft hand of the operator is drawn toward his body.

.The initial movement of the roller will,by reason ofthe frictionalengagement of the head 17 with the groove 18, swing the finger 16, andmove the bar 20 in the direction of rotation, and the engagement of thefinger 16 in the slot 21 of the bar will swing the blade holder in theopposite direction. This movement will bring one edge of the blade intocontact with that portion of the strop which is moving toward theoperator and the strop will be drawn along the blade in the directionfrom the back to the edge thereof. In swinging the discs 19 with theroller one leg of each spring 22 will be put under tension, and thetension of the springs together with the frictional engagement betweenthe roller and the strop will overcome the frictional engagement of thehead with the side wall of the groove 18 and the movement of the discswill be arrested while the roller will rotate under the influencesof'the moving strop, with the edge of the blade in contact with that endof the strop moving toward the operator.

\Vhen the movement of one end of the strop toward the operator hasreached its limit the handle on the other end thereof has been drawnalmost into the frame. The motion is now reversed.

As soon as the first movement of the strop has ceased and before thereverse movement can start due to the pull on the now short end of thestrop, the springs 22, 22 will release the edge of the blade fromcontact with the now long side of the strop and, the roller being atrest, the tension of the springs will release the head 18 from itsengagement with the side wall of the groove and swing the blade holderto the central or neutral position. It will be seen that the head 17 isless in diameter than the width of the groove 18 and the arm beingcentered, as shown in Fig. 1 and in full lines in Fig. 2 the head willnot engage the side wall of the groove until the roller has been given apartial rotation. hen the rotary movement of the roller is arrested thesprings will move the arm back to the position shown in full lines inFig. 2 as such movement will be in the direction away from the inclinedside wall of the groove.

hen the short end of the strop is pulled the roller will be rotated inthe opposite di rection and the above described operation will berepeated except that the other side of the blade is presented to thestropping surface.

During the operation above described the engagement of the finger 16,with the cam groove 18 of the roller 5 will cause the blade holder to bereciprocated back and forth along the stay 6 and across the line ofmovement of the strop. The throw of the holder in the directionlongitudinally thereof, and

tarnsversely of the line of movement of the strop will be limited onlyby the length of the slot longitudinally of the roller.

The holder will be reciprocated once for every rotation of the rollerand the diameter of the roller will determine the number ofreciprocations of the blade holder for each complete movement of thestrop. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, when the strop ispulled by the right hand of the operator, the roller, which is ofcomparatively large diameter, will make three revolutions and the bladewill be re ciprocated three times across the path of movement of thestrop while one side thereof is in engagement with, the strop.

lVhen the left hand is pulled toward the operator the blade will beswung over, its opposite side "will engage that portion of the strep onthe other sideof the roller and the blade will be reciprocated threetimes while that end of the stropis being pulled.

By making the roller smaller in diameter the number of reciprocations ofthe blade per movement of the stropmay be increased to any desiredextent.

The position of the pivotal point, on which the blade oscillates,relatively to the stays 7. and 8 being such that the edges of the bladeengage the strep opposite those members provides a firm foundation forthe bearing points of the blade, and the pressure of the blade againstthe strop cannot bulge thelatter outward-to form a. more or less deeppocket in which the edge of the blade may rest during the actualstropping. The formation of such a pocket would cause the delicate edgeof the blade to bear on a concave surface and said edge would becomerounded as is frequently the case when an unskilled person attempts tostrop a razor on an ordinary swing strop and allows the strop to sa Inaddition with such a pocket there will be danger of the blade catchingin the concaved surface of the strop before the blade can swing free ofthe strep when the movement of the latter is reversed, thereby cuttingor otherwise marring the stropping surface in addition to dulling theblade.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, the principleof the 1nvention has been described, together with the process which isnow considered to represent the best embodiment thereof, but it IS to beunderstood that the process described is merely illustrative, and thatthe invention may be carried out in. other ways.

Having now described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be scured by Letters Patent is 1-- 1. A device of the character described,comprising a strop, said strop being formed into a. bight, a rollerwithin the bight and adapted to be rotated in opposite directions byreciprocating movements of the strop, there being an endless pe *ipheralgroove in the cylindrical surface of the roller, a support for theroller, a blade holder pivoted in the support and adapted to oscillatetransversely of the axial line of the roller and to be movedlongitudinally of the roller, and a finger engaging a side wall of thegroove and adapted to oscillate the holder, a spring for moving theholder to a position intermediate the extremes of oscillation, theengagement of the finger in the cam groove during rotation of the rollercausing the holder to reciprocate in the direction at right angles tothe directien of the oscillating movement.

A device of the character described,

comprising a strep, said strep being formed into a bight, a rollerwithin the bight and adapted to be rotated in opposite directions byreciprocating movements of the strop,

there being an endless peripheral groove in the same and the holder,said finger engaging the element, and a spring carried by each'end ofthe element for moving the holder to a position intermediate theextremes of oscillation, the engagement of the finger in the cam grooveduring rotation of the roller causing the holder to reciprocate in thedirection'at right angles to the direction of the oscillating movement.

3. A device of the character described, comprising a support, a rollerrotatably mounted in the support, a strop, said strop being formed to abight the roller being in the bight, and adapted to be rotated inopposite directions by reciprocating movements of the strop, an elementpivoted in the axial line of the roller, a spring secured at its centerto the element and having its ends engaging opposite sides of astationary portion of the support, said element being capable ofmovement independently of the roller, there being an endless peripheralgroove in the cylindrical surface of the roller, a blade holder pivotedin the support in parallel relation to the roller, a finger carried bythe holder and adapted to engage the groove in the roller whereby theholder may be given a complete reciprocation in the direction axially ofthe roller on each revolution. of the roller, said finger having asliding engagement with the element, there being frictional engagementbetween the element and roller whereby the element will be oscillated asthe roller is rotated in each direction, the spring tending to maintainthe linger in the central position relatively to the extremes ofoscillations of the element.

t. A device of the character described, comprising a support, a rollerrotatably mounted in the support, a st-rop, said strop being formed to abight, the roller being in the bight and adapted to be rotated inopposite directions by reciprocating movements of the strep, an elementpivoted in the axial line of the roller, a spring secured at its centerto the element and having its ends engaging a stationary portion of thesupport, said element being capable of moving relatively to the roller,there being an endless pcripheral groove in the cylindrical surface ofthe roller, a blade holder pivoted in the support in parallel relationto the roller, a finger carried by the holder and adapted to engage thegroove inthe roller whereby the holder may be given a completereciprocation in the direction axially of the roller on each revolutionof the roller, there being a slot in the element, said finger passingthrough the slot and having a sliding engagement with the element therebeing frictional engagement between the element and roller whereby theelement will be oscillated as the roller is rotated in each direction,the spring tending to maintain the finger in r the central positionrelatively to the extremes of oscillations of the roller.

5. A device of the character described, comprising a support, a rollerrotatably mounted in the support, a strop passing over the rollerwhereby the latter may be rotated, an element comprising an arm infrictional engagement with each end of the roller, said arms beingconnected by a bar, there being a slot in the bar, there being anendless peripheral groove in the cylindrical surface of the roller, astay member extending across the support and parallel to the axis of theroller, a blade holder loosely carried on the stay member, a fingercarried by the holder, said finger passing through the slot in the bar.and the end thereof engaging the groove in the roller, a double actingspring carried by each arm of the element and adapted to bear againstopposite sides of a member stationary relatively to the Support.

This specification signed this 2nd day of September, 1920.

HENRIK IPSEN.

